


Whatever Floats Your Boat

by flashytonystark, violawrites



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: So much angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:42:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27575363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashytonystark/pseuds/flashytonystark, https://archiveofourown.org/users/violawrites/pseuds/violawrites
Relationships: Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

As Peter moved toward the door his peripheral vision picked up Gwen’s hesitation, her movements toward the back door of the car. It wasn’t all that surprising that she’d automatically gone to where Lucy should have been. The gesture had become habit for both of them. But he didn’t say anything, knowing it was hard enough for both of them as it was when they needed to focus on the Voice and their meeting.

When Gwen urged them to wait until they were inside to discuss it, Peter agreed with a nod and followed her towards the office. It did seem like a conversation they should have in private but a nagging feeling in Peter’s mind reminded him that it wouldn’t make any difference to the Voice where they were. It could still hear them.

“Lucy and May are safe.” He assured her, hoping his voice was steady. Peter didn’t need his enhanced hearing to pick up on the panic and anxiety in his wife’s voice. “It feels like whoever is doing this wants you and I to go after each other. Or maybe it just wants me. But I still think Lucy is safer with May right now.”

"And I'm not even sure it really 𝗰𝗮𝗻 be in two places at once. It's just something the Voice said, probably trying to spook me." 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱, Peter thought. He pulled another chair up next to Gwen's at the desk and watched as she started the laptop. He ran a hand through his hair without thinking, a nervous habit that he knew was a tell but couldn't bring himself to care. "But it might be helpful if we find something in the database that fits."

"Alright, so then where do we start?" He asked. "Maybe we can see if there were any crimes around Oscorp the night that all of this started? Try to find something in the same area."

It was a long shot, Peter knew, but anything before their experience at Oscorp that night would just be guesswork as far as the location of whoever was behind this. "Especially things that weren't followed up on." He added as an afterthought, shrugging. "The NYPD never takes the time to actually investigate the weird stuff."


	2. Chapter 2

Even with all of Peter’s assurances that May and Lucy were safe, Gwen couldn’t help the sinking feeling that had taken root in the pit of her stomach. The sooner they figured everything out, the sooner she would be able to breathe easier; until then, she’d be forced to deal with the uncomfortable thoughts that were threatening to take over.

“I don’t know if it can be in two places or not, but I don’t want to wait around and find out,” Gwen said, typing a few things into the internet search engine. “For now, let’s assume whatever — or whoever — is behind this, can inflict as much pain and damage as they want. I’d rather be over prepared than not.”

The last thing they needed was to be caught off guard by the Voice more than they already had been. It worked quickly, creating cracks in Gwen’s though process, in her ability to see things objectively as a scientist first and a mother second. The threat to her daughter’s safety had changed everything and the Voice knew it.

“I want to run a few data simulations, I think,” she said as she switched between the crime database and the search tab she had open online. “We need to look at arrests and crime reports in the week leading up to the night at Oscorp. I want to pull data from a five block radius around Oscorp, Parker Industries, and here at home.”

There was absolutely no way to determine when and how they were first targeted by the Voice, so focusing on the three areas where they spent most of their time seemed like the safest strategy. Once they had that information, they could start narrowing it down based on crime and looking at key words that might provide them with more clues.

“There’s no way this was a random attack, Peter. Not with the voice knowing about Spider-Man. We’ve been followed. Watched. For a long time, I think. And now, the more that I think about it, I think we need to look at crime data near May’s too.”

Running the data simulations wouldn’t be hard; a quick input of macro code in an Excel document should be more than enough. If it was good enough for her daily work in the lab, it would be more than good for this. If she hurried, she might even have the report ran before they needed to leave to go meet Greg.

“This is going to take a little while to compile,” Gwen said, watching as the raw data downloaded to the laptop.

Despite it being the middle of the afternoon, Gwen found herself stifling a yawn and looked over at Peter. “Why don’t you go start a pot of coffee? I think we’re going to need it.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Coffee, yeah. That’s a good idea.” Peter nodded as he stood up. Seeing Gwen stifle a yawn was a reminder of how much they’d been through not just that day but for the last few weeks. When was the last time he’d actually gotten a decent night’s sleep? 

He slipped from the chair quietly and headed towards the kitchen, his feet carrying him without Peter really noticing. The point Gwen had made about looking for crime data around their own neighborhood had his Peter. He’d been thinking they had stumbled into what had happened at Oscorp that night and the Voice had followed them ever since. But the idea that the meeting hadn’t been an accident was much more frightening. 

A few minutes and two steaming mugs of coffee later, Peter entered their office again, setting one cup in front of Gwen and taking a sip from his own. “You know,” He started. “As much as I hate to say it, we should probably add the neighborhood around Parker Industries, too. Whoever’s behind this knows way too much about us and he’s finding out somehow.” 

Although Parker Industires wasn’t much more than a few rooms in part of an old warehouse in the Meatpacking district, Peter wasn’t about to underestimate who they were up against. And the business that he’d been so proud of starting two years before was a vulnerability.

“Which is . . . a lot of places to compare, actually.” Peter sighted, picturing the map of the city in his mind, each location lit up like a warning sign instead of the warm glow it should have been. 

“I can check and see if any of my old enemies have gotten back on the scene lately.” He said, thinking out loud. “But this clearly isn’t your run -of-the-mill mugger and if anyone had been released from the Raft I think I would have heard about it.”

As he sat in silence for a moment, Peter realized that part of him had been listening for any noises Lucy might be making as he always did when she was taking a nap or just in a different room. It was so automatic that he had to remind himself that they’d just dropped her off with May.


	4. Chapter 4

Oscorp. Their home. Parker Industries. May’s house. All potential places where danger and destruction could be looming in dark corners or out in the open, hidden in plain sight. The thought made Gwen clench her teeth so tightly her jaw hurt.

She could smell the coffee before Peter walked back into their office, though she left her mug untouched for several minutes after he brought it to her, too focused on the computer screen in front of her as she made a few adjustments in the Bugle’s crime database.

“I know a handful of places isn’t the entirety of New York, but it sure as hell seems like it is,” she said after a moment, sighing bitterly into her coffee as she brought it to her lips. “There’s so much ground to cover and we’re only two people running on what, twelve hours of sleep?”

It was hard enough dealing with the Voice while running on near fumes, but the idea of being unable to keep Lucy one hundred percent safe was weighing heavier on Gwen than she wanted to admit. Being a parent was hard enough without supervillains making a mess of things and dragging her and Peter into them.

“No, I don’t think anyone’s been released,” Gwen said, scanning the list of inmates listed in the database. “I might not like Jameson, but I’m a big enough person to admit that his penchant for detail is quite helpful; I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more detailed and meticulously updated database.”

Turning the laptop so Peter could more easily see the screen, Gwen scrolled back to the top of the inmate list. 

“Looks like everyone is accounted for, and some new faces too, it looks like. While whoever’s behind this voice isn’t behind bars, something tells me he’s acquainted himself with quite a few of these people. He knows who we are, that you’re Spider-Man. That’s not widely available information, meaning this guy, whoever he is, is smart,” she said, her words coming out slightly rushed as she tried to get all of her thoughts out before they left her.

“He wants something, Peter. And while I would normally say he wants something from you, I’m not so sure that’s the entire story. Why else would he be going after us both? And why did he choose to make Oscorp the setting for the first time he made his presence known to us?”


	5. Chapter 5

“Yeah, I guess there is a reason the Bugle usually outsells everyone else.” Peter said, reluctantly agreeing with Gwen while he took a sip from his mug. Jameson’s temper was well known even outside of the newsroom, his shouting matches outdone only by his standards that were nearly impossible to meet.

**_You didn’t tell her what you gave Jameson in exchange for this little deal, did you?_ **

Peter felt himself go still in his seat. It was almost as if the Voice knew they were talking about Jameson at that very moment. He hadn’t told Gwen about the video of Spider-Man he’d sent, deliberately not wanting to worry her with everything else that was happening. And there was nothing wrong with that, Peter told himself.

Were there bugs or listening devices in their house? Suddenly, irrationally, Peter felt the urge to start tearing the room apart, looking for anything that shouldn’t be there. But that was crazy, wasn’t it? Then again, the Voice knew what he’d agreed to give Jameson and that wasn’t possible either.

“I think . . . “ Peter began once he’d composed himself enough to speak again. “We can eliminate anyone who doesn’t have some kind of superhuman abilities. Being in two places at once, making us imagine things, hear voices. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill mugger who’s annoyed with Spider-man. But does the database even have a filter like that?”

“You’re right that it’s not about me, or not just about me, anyway.” Peter glanced down, only to notice that his knee had started bouncing, an old nervous habit that never quite seemed to die. “He found out about our mutual friend somehow, so I think it’s safe to assume he’s been watching us even before he showed up at Oscorp.” 

Peter let out a sigh. “I mean, I’m just thinking out loud here but Oscorp is a lot more heavily secured than our house or Parker Industries is. Maybe he was trying to prove he could get to us anywhere?” It wasn’t a comforting thought in the least. 

There was another reason, too, Peter realized, why the Voice might have picked that spot. The location had meaning to both him and Gwen. It was on the roof of the building where he’d fought the Lizard and where Gwen’s father had —. But Peter stopped himself before the thought could fully form. If the Voice knew _ that much _ about them, there were in more danger than he’d realized.


	6. Chapter 6

It was hard for Gwen to disagree with Peter — the Bugle _did_ tend to outsell all of its competitors and while Jameson was one of her least favorite people, she had to give his reporters props for all the hard work they put into their pieces. There were award winning journalists employed at the Bugle and the pieces they wrote weren't fluff pieces; they were hard and gritty, a culmination of months of research and investigation. These were thorough people, people who kept detailed notes and then logged them into the system.

Gwen almost felt the need to thank Jameson.

"Yes, I agree. Typical muggers you find on the street aren't going to be smart enough to figure out your identity for starters," Gwen said, clicking aimlessly through the database, hoping _something_ might pop out at her. So far, she'd been unsuccessful. "Most of the people you run into get caught because they don't take five minutes to create a strategy. Whoever is behind all of _this_ , has been planning. A lot. He's playing the long game with us."

The thought of the Voice sticking around even longer was sobering, a thought Gwen quickly tried to push away. The last two days had felt like years instead of a mere forty-eight hours and she wasn't sure if she would be able to handle much more.

"The database isn't going to have a superhero or supervillain filter, no. Jameson has too much dirt on the super-community and there's no way he would risk uploading it to the database in a such a way that anyone could hack in and find it," she told Peter as she adjusted the search parameters on the screen.

"Look. I can easily search for Reed Richards," she said, pointing out the search results. "But if you notice, nothing comes up about Mr. Fantastic. Everything here is just about Richards and his philanthropic work and science breakthroughs. If I search for Mr. Fantastic, the results come up empty despite the fact that Jameson ran a piece three weeks ago about the incident at the Baxter Building. You and I both know Jameson has information in this system somewhere."

As she turned to look at Peter, Gwen noticed he'd started bouncing his leg and reached out to place her hand on his knee.

"We knew things like this could happen. It was only a matter of time before someone went digging in places they shouldn't have," Gwen said. "But we're smart and we'll figure it out. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried, especially because whoever this is knows where we live, but we've got to take it one step at a time. Maybe you're right, maybe he just wants to prove he can get to us anywhere. But I'd be willing to bet that Oscorp is less safe than here. It means something that all of this started when we were both in the building together."


	7. Chapter 7

“Yeah, and most of the people I come up against aren’t really looking for me. They just happen to be lucky enough to run into Spider-Man after deciding to mug a tourist.” Peter agreed. “Not this guy, though.” Another worry had been forming in his mind, and he’d finally found the words to articulate it.

“As much as I hate to say it, I think we need to make a list of everyone that knows who Spider-Man really is, and who you are. Not that anyone we know would intentionally give our identities away, but . . . “ Peter added quickly, not wanting Gwen to think that someone they cared about had betrayed them. “He had to find out somehow. Maybe he overheard something?” 

He studied the screen as Gwen showed him how the filters worked; clearly this was going to be much more complicated than they’d thought. But something she’d said gave him another idea. “Hey, what about seeing which people or locations he has the most information on? Sort it by volume.”

Peter got up from his chair again and began to pace, his coffee going cold while he was unable to sit still. “You said it yourself that Jameson wants to keep information on superheroes to himself. But what if he stumbled into something without even knowing it? Just because he’s not looking at it the right way. Like a whole bunch of info on one person that he doesn’t know actually has powers.”

Whoever was behind this was keeping a low profile, but there  _ had _ to be a trail somewhere, a pattern. 

Peter couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that there wouldn’t be any files outright labeled  **Spider-Man** , especially given the footage he’d just uploaded to Jameson. He could only trust that the editor would keep that close - at least until the next news cycle. He and Gwen had enough to worry about already.” 

“Yeah, you’re right.” He said. The comfort of Gwen’s touch allowed him to relax at least slightly. “And since he wants to pit us against each other the only way we’re going to figure this out is together.”

He glanced at the clock, noticing that they still had over an hour before they had to meet Gwen’s contact from Oscorp to get the security footage. “I think we can also expect he’s not going to let us meet Greg alone. We should be prepared.”


	8. Chapter 8

A list of everyone who knew about the Spider-Man connection and the Parkers. It would be a small list, what little comfort that provided, and while she doubted someone close to them accidentally revealed more than they should have, it wouldn't hurt to have a list just in case.

"Wade's at the top of that list," Gwen said as she handed Peter a notebook and pen to start taking down names. She tried injecting as much humor into her words as she could, but they still seemed to fall flat. Wade Wilson, while a Grade-A pain in her ass, was someone she felt they could trust. Honestly, they could probably trust him more than some of the others on the list. "And Vanessa, add her too."

As Peter paced behind her, Gwen focused on the database and began messing with the advanced search and filtering features in an attempt to load search results by volume as Peter had suggested. It wouldn't come as a surprise if Jameson had stumbled into something more sinister than he realized. Whoever they were dealing with was smart and calculated. It wouldn't surprise her at all if whoever was behind the voice had been causing small incidents throughout the city for weeks, if not longer — things so inconspicuous that they didn't even make the last page of the paper.

"Hey, you're smart," Gwen said after several minutes had passed between them in silence. "Do you think you could, I dunno, hack into this database and rewrite a few lines of code? Just temporarily, of course. It's late enough that I don't think anyone is trying to access the database at the Bugle. The search parameters are nice, but I need something more . . . specific. I tried searching by volume, but it's not enough. Reed Richards, Tony Stark, downtown Manhattan carbon emissions are the top three hits using the filtering options Jameson has available and I can't specify anything more."

Gwen got up from the desk and gestured for Peter to take a seat, her half-drank cup of coffee sitting forgotten next to a framed photograph of Peter and Lucy.

"Sit. Maybe you'll have more luck. I'm going to go fix us something quick to eat. You're probably right, whoever's behind this isn't going to let us meet Greg without causing a scene, I'm sure, so we should probably eat before we go."

Gwen side-stepped the chair and reached out to squeeze Peter's hand as she walked by before heading toward the kitchen to find something quick for dinner. She paused in front of the refrigerator to send Greg a text, making sure they were still on for that evening. When she checked her phone nearly fifteen minutes later, hoping for a response, Greg had yet to read her message.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter grabbed a sticky note and a pen that were sitting on the desk, his handwriting messier than usual as he scrawled Wade and Vanessa’s names onto the paper. He didn’t believe for a second that either of them had done this intentionally (or that  _ anyone  _ on the list would) but he and Gwen still needed to cover all their bases. “Tony and Pepper too. I’ll add them.”

“You know,” Peter said, almost as an afterthought. “I should pull the security footage from our floor at Parker Industries. Maybe the outside of the building too if I can get it. I mean, I know this guy showed up at OSCORP but the more information we have . . .”

There was still something that bothered Peter about the whole situation, besides the fact that a mysterious voice was targeting him and Gwen.  _ Why him?  _ Whoever this was could have presumably gone after anyone in the city, and there were no shortage of people with superpowers to choose from. Peter had a feeling that the faster they found out why he was going after the Parkers the sooner they’d find out who it was.

“Hey, even a blind nut finds a squirrel once in a while.” He said, a real chuckle escaping his lips at his own joke for the first time in days. “But yeah, you could definitely do that. You’d just need to add an algorithm that’s greedy and gives you the most relevant results so it narrows the search parameters. So it knows what it’s looking for.” 

Peter hadn’t realized how hungry he was until Gwen stood up and offered to make them something to eat. The small gesture of his wife squeezing his hand gave him more comfort than he wanted to admit. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll work on adding the code to the database in the meantime.”

Once Gwen had gone to the kitchen, Peter wasted no time starting. He added the lines of code, shifting the search function just enough that he hoped they might be able to make sense of the results.He’d hoped that Jameson would have added the video of Spider-Man that Peter sent him to the database already so it could mysteriously disappear, but unfortunately he hadn’t. Typical Parker luck.

“Okay. So we’re looking for things that don’t seem to be connected.” He muttered to himself as his fingers worked quickly at the keyboard. “Maybe other break-ins to tech companies like the night at Oscorp?” 

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

Gathering footage from Parker Industries wasn’t a bad idea. In fact, it would be stupid not to assume the voice had infiltrated every area Gwen and Peter frequented and spent most of their time. Other than work and home, the only other place they ever visited on a semi-frequent basis was May’s and Gwen had to believe that the Voice wasn’t interested in May Parker.

**_Or am I?_ **

The sudden sound of the Voice made Gwen’s entire body stiffen, her grip tightening on the container of leftover chicken salad she’d just pulled from the refrigerator.

The Voice was taunting her, trying to get her on edge more than she already was. May had nothing to do with this, had nothing to do with Parker Industries or Oscorp or even Spider-Man. Gwen and Peter had done everything in their power to keep May blissfully unaware of their ties to the web-slinging superhero and had remained successful over the years.

She refused to acknowledge the Voice, regardless of the types of thoughts he tried putting in her head; she refused to be easily swayed by someone who used her family and her own thoughts against her.

With sandwiches and chips on plates and bottles of water tucked into the crook of her elbow, Gwen made her way back into the office where Peter was still seated at the computer. She couldn’t make out much of the screen from where she stood, but she hoped he’d made at least a little bit of progress while she’d been gone.

”I have dinner,” she said, setting the plate next to Peter’s elbow. ”It’s nothing fancy, chicken salad sandwiches and chips. I just don’t have the energy for much more than that right now.”

Gwen sank back down into the chair next to Peter and picked up her own sandwich as she leaned over his shoulder, squinting at the screen as she tried to decipher what he’d pulled up.

”Find anything useful?” She asked, reaching for her phone which wasn’t in her pocket. “Actually, hold that thought. I’m still waiting to hear back from Greg and my phone must still be in the kitchen. I’ll be right back.”

Abandoning her sandwich, Gwen left the room in search for her phone which she found on the kitchen table, despite being sure she’d left it next to the sink. There were no new text messages, her message to Greg still showing as unread. She sent off another one, hoping a second message might catch his attention.

**_Maybe you should be worrying less about talking with your coworkers and worrying more about your daughter, Gwen. How is she? How’s little Lucy?_ **


End file.
